1.
(RE)DEFINING
MALE SHAVING
BRANDS
THROUGH
HUMAN
FUNDAMENTALS

2.
Hi! My name is Constantinos
Pantidos and I believe that
companies could improve
people’s lives even more
effectively if they had
deeper human insight.

3.
For consumer
satisfaction to be as
complete as possible, we
must take care not only
of the needs consumers
understand and are able
to evaluate but also and
especially the ones they
are not consciously
aware of

4.
While 95% of our purchase decision making
takes place in our unconscious, we tend to
spend a disproportionally high time on
product characteristics and price and
promotions because they are easier to grasp

5.
Instead, this
presentation delves into
the unconscious mind of
the consumer, the 95%
that really matters, and
makes it possible for
marketers to build
irresistible brands

6.
Biological Value Brain &
Body
Systems
Cognitive
Operations
Psychological
States
Human
Morality
Behaviour
Rewards
Engagement
The
pathways
of human
behaviour
While the models for shaping
brand strategy used by most
multinationals today ignore
the contribution of modern
sciences such as
neurobiology and cognitive
science, BRAND AVIATORS™
use a comprehensive model
having an evolutionary
foundation and a
multidisciplinary approach
enabling marketers to build
consumer propositions that
are impossible to resist

7.
Our psyche
consists of a code

8.
We are an
ordered pattern
of fundamental
motives capable
of generating life

9.
Having captured our
fundamental human
motives, the irreducible parts
of our nature, all the way
from their biological values,
to the inherent concepts they
imbue into our everyday life,
this model traces emotions
from their roots, and creates
concepts that bear the
freshness of the source.
CONNECT
CONTROL
The wheel of motives™
GROW
CARE
BALANCE
DESIRE
FEEL
SAFE
SEEK
PLAY
CREATE
DEFY
TRANSFORM
TM

10.
Motive Main biological
advantages /
survival value
Possible
neurosystems
involved
Examples of
cognitive
operations
Main psychological
states
Main sociocultural
manifestations and
reinforcers
Feel safe Detection of threats,
Dissipation of fears,
Endurance via
rewards,
Creation of
optimism that
facilitates success
Reward systems
(opioid
neurosystems that
induce a sensation of
pleasure and
suppress pain), Fear
dampening systems,
Defensive system
Retrospection,
Reminiscence,
Comfort and
enjoyment,
Believing,
Increasing positive
emotions,
Constancy, Coping,
Resolution of
emotional conflict,
Incognisance,
Anthropomorphism
Stability,
Regression,
Renewal, Nostalgia,
Daydreaming,
Comfort, Hope,
Happiness, Satiety,
Plenitude, Joy, Bliss,
Instant gratification,
Reward,
Perfectionism
Postponement,
Shame, Guilt,
Humbleness, Self-
sacrifice, Narcissism
Belief systems such
as religion, Morality,
Ethics, Mores,
Folkway, Tradition,
Authenticity
Example: the pathways of our motive to feel
safe.

11.
Successful brands
coherently express
the very patterns of
our psyche

12.
* A book will shortly be published, extensively
analysing the motives underpinning 20
categories of everyday consumer goods and
our fundamental human motives. It puts
forward the most integrated platform for
engaging people to date.
The motives for buying
male shaving products are
presented in a summarised
form in order of increasing
relative importance in line
with their power to
influence our buying
decisions*

13.
PLAYFULNESS: On an initial
layer of motivation, a shave
offers a tonifying, uplifting,
vital experience

14.
Getting ready to seize
every moment, we
unconsciously confirm
our capacity for life.
Playing with different
beard designs, some very
serious, some others less
so, we feel we come
alive.

15.
Lack of proper grooming may
be one of the first signs of
depression, of a feeling that we
cannot achieve the objectives
we have set

16.
BALANCE: Expert products,
technology, know-how and
technical expertise provide
us with a sense of peaceful
serenity

17.
In using science the few moments we
dedicate to ourselves in front of the
mirror, we connect with our body, and
spark our soul. We feel that grooming
products enable us to get in touch with
ourselves, and achieve an “intellectual
hygiene”. We want to believe that they
support our personal philosophy and
internal balance when everything else
around us is in chaos. Morning washing
clears our vision, activates our thought
process, helps us grasp things more
easily.

18.
CARE: Being is
maintaining and
supporting. Care
starts with taking
care of ourselves,
of our own body.

19.
Grooming products permit a
very intimate contact with our
bodies which is a very deep-
seated urge

20.
HOMOGENEITY: On a deeper layer
of motivation, grooming rituals
help us build our public self and
feel accepted. By shaving the
beard we become friendlier.

21.
Shaving enables us to look
ordinary, blend into the crowd,
become one with the environment,
feel part of something bigger

22.
The face is a hugely sophisticated
communication tool and plays an
important role in the development of
our relationships. Shaving reveals the
facial expressions more clearly and
therefore makes the shaven male
look more communicative and
cooperative. Nowadays, anyone can
have the best shave in the world.

23.
PASSION: Evolutionarily,
physical features of the face
provide clues to genetic
quality and affective
attitude and thus personal
grooming can increase
reproductive success.

24.
Indulging in the ritual act
of shaving is a sensual
experience: Spreading
the lather on the skin,
feeling the gliding of the
masculine tool on the
smooth skin and the
sensual satisfaction of the
lotions, anticipating going
out and what it brings
with it.

25.
SELF-EXPRESSION: On a deeper layer,
embedding the powerful notions of
culture and self-expression some of the
most successful brands help us develop
a point of view and an attitude. The
face is a prime instrument of self-
expression and the most visible part of
the body. Everyday we sharpen,
polish, recreate our face, reinventing
ourselves. Grooming products enable
us not only to command our proper
face but also to reform it.

26.
TRANSFORMATION: Where a
woman puts on her make-up, a
man “takes off” his face to
achieve the same result, the
sense of newness and
transformation

27.
The face emerges
clean and smooth
behind a scented
mask and one
becomes a different
person. Shaving
products act as
catalysts for this
change.

28.
SUBVERSION: Shaving is a type of
deformation during which our hair is
forcefully and artificially eliminated.
All methods of mechanical hair
removal involve some level of pain
and underlying danger. Because of
shaving’s repetitive ritualistic nature,
the aspect of danger is only latent in
our mind. Shaving products are
devoted to elimination, they
represent the edgier of tools. They are
items of disguised transgression,
infringement, disobedience, offence.

29.
Despite all the high technology
there remains always the
danger of a bad cut. The
rubbing of the face with the
lethal tool, and the underlying
thought of blood, gives some
masochistic aspect to the
shaving ritual which is
completed with the touch of the
after shave on the raw skin.

30.
Experiencing risk and
the masochistic motives
are important drivers in
shaving. Having a “close
shave” gives the
pleasure of almost
experiencing the
guillotine and having
beaten it.

31.
Every day we destroy the sign
of masculinity. Our mind reacts
positively to a little controlled
danger wherever it finds it.
Even weak stimuli of suffering
or feeling on the “dangerous”
edge of things, provide people
in an anaesthetised society
with a sense of being more
alive, sharp and dangerous.

32.
In primitive societies, mutilations are
correlated with passage rites into
adulthood. It is not by chance that
for men shaving is the main sign of
becoming adults as for women is
the use of red lipstick and higher
heels. In modern societies the value
of the rites of passage has been
replaced with substitute values of
products and habits.

33.
Unconventional designs of
facial hair are a sign of more
or less unconscious protest
against submitting to a
discipline that deprives one of
individual potency

34.
FREEDOM: In our mind, getting rid of the
hair represents an attempt to get rid of
the clothes - which symbolise civilization.
Shaving is associated with freeing the skin
from the hair, getting rid of our troubles.

35.
Fabricating multiple faces, experiencing
different potential identities, we hope to end
up discovering our real character. Surfing
from self to self, we attempt a temporary
escape from an unfulfilled life. Now that all
places on the planet have been explored,
we are much freer to explore new places by
shaving our whole body.

36.
SECURITY: The act of shaving
enables us to get a new face
at the beginning of a new day.
It leaves the shaver fresh and
renewed every day. Shaving
facilitates the passage from
the dark hair to smooth skin,
from dirt to cleanliness, from
night to day.

37.
It takes a sharp, shining tool to
achieve cleansing and
purgation. The water on the
face reinforces the feeling of an
everyday rebirth. Shaving is a
self-effacing, semi-automatic
act of ritualistic nature that is
seen as a metaphor for
purification. Along with the
facial hair we get rid of the
tensions of life. as children do
not have beards, the shaven
male looks and feels younger.

38.
CONTROL: On an even
more profound level, by
shaving we fight chaos
and entropy on a daily
basis. Hair reminds us of
our animalistic past.
Every day we confirm
our escape from the past,
our reign over nature.
Every day we remind
ourselves to keep our
emotions in hand.

39.
A man wakes up disorganised, harried by his
anxieties. It is this face that he takes off:
reorganizing himself, reestablishing his
identity. Tuning himself up he gets a sense of
security. The clean-shaven look is the right
face at work, for social order, and conformity.

40.
Shaving and depilation
have been frequently used
as social insignia in many
cultures of the world.

41.
During shaving we feel
pampered. The concrete
product attributes of power,
solidity and stability help us
feel in control.

42.
EMPOWERMENT: Shaving offers
a daily affirmation. The last look
in the mirror in the morning
says “go out and win today”.
Men displace their
aggressiveness from their face
in the act of shaving.

43.
A merciless attack against the
vigor of the hair controlling the
sharp instrument, a risky activity
“just short of the cutting edge”
energises the man to start the day
with unfailing confidence.

44.
Because the razor is sharp, the
man feels sharp. In fantasy we see
ourselves physically handsome,
muscular, and therefore powerful.
Men are required to demonstrate
their maleness by removing one of
its very obvious signs, their hair.

45.
Gliding quickly over surfaces
is a masculine unconscious
idea. Friction and gravity are
the enemies of motion, the
enemies of life.

46.
Men look for immediate
gratification, and signals
that help give reassurance
on performance. To make
us feel top performers the
products must be easy to
use. Products are expertly
engineered with purposeful
details and signals to
connote performance.

47.
The ritualistic initiation in
the activity of shaving
which accompanies men
for the rest of their life
coincides with their
sexual maturity

48.
Women are for men part of
their perceived success.
Shaving is associated with the
fantasy of sexual conquest.

49.
* In some cases, the
same brand can be
manifested in
different ways in
different countries
Leading brands
express the
fundamental
human motives
driving their
category *

50.
Deep category
understanding is just the first
step in creating engaging
narratives. To build a
proposition that is both
authentic and deeply
engaging, the brand must
germinate the bare motives
that drive the category in a
unique and profoundly
human way.

51.
CONNECT
CONTROL
The wheel of motives™
GROW
CARE
BALANCE
DESIRE
FEEL
SAFE
SEEK
PLAY
CREATE
DEFY
TRANSFORM
TM
The Wheel Of Motives™ can
help us activate the unique
codes of a brand, those that
engage people at a
profound human level
based on a three-phase
methodology *
* For the complete theory about
how the fundamental human
motives work please contact the
author or wait until the
publishing of the book

52.
Phase 1: Psychographic
mapping
• Mapping the meaning people
derive from the category
• Deconstructing the meaning
systems of the brands
• Tracing underexploited
territories and meaning-
saturated areas

53.
Phase 2: Brand (re)definition
• Liberating the core of the
brand from its nonessential
elements
• Mobilising the core to give a
unique answer to what
consumers have always
wanted from the category

54.
Phase 3: The unique language of the brand
• Imprinting brand strategy into our
fundamental human motives, the roots of
human communication
• Translating brand strategy into Intrinsically
Engaging Narratives™ - tangible and ownable
experiences based on the profound code

55.
To capture the deep
resonances that make
a brand successful,
and its consonances
with the category, a
profound knowledge
of the rich hierarchies
of inherent concepts
of our mind, and their
underground
connections, is
required.

56.
BRAND AVIATORS™ are trusted by some of the world’s
leading companies:

57.
(Re)define your brand through the
human fundamentals if you seek
to:
• Deeply engage people locally
and across cultures
• Develop genuine concepts that
work year after year after year
• Align all brand communications
under one master idea
• Increase the ROI of all your
brand’s activities

58.
My mission is to help clients
around the world build brands
that liberate the very forces of
life. Contact me now for a free
discovery audit at
c.pantidos@brandaviators.com
or by clicking on the icon:
BRAND AVIATORS™
Kemp House, 152-160 City Road, London EC1V 2NX
+44 (0) 203 693 3933